. >> that's congressman ben quayle walking off camera. now he's walking out of the capitol. one of the many members of congress we won't see this term but whom you will see in the "sideshow." >>> we begin with whether republicans are pulling a bait and switch on the deficit. msnbc contributor jared bernstein was chief economist to vice president biden, and bob shrum is a democratic strategist. gentlemen, allow me to read to you something that former labor secretary robert reich published today. quote, if the ongoing war between republicans and democrats was really over those future budget deficits, you might expect republicans and democrats to be focusing on ways to hold down future health care costs. but they're not debating this because the federal deficit is not what this war is about. it's about the size of government. tea party republicans want the government to be much smaller. jared, i say, yes but surely a $16 trillion debt is serious business and requires attention. >> absolutely, and, in fact, if you look -- i don't really do the kind of pox on both their houses in